THE CALCIUM-BINDING PROTEINS MRP8 AND MRP14 FORM A MEMBRANE-ASSOCIATED HETERODIMER IN A SUBSET OF MONOCYTES MACROPHAGES PRESENT IN ACUTE BUT ABSENT IN CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY LESIONS

Monocytes/macrophages expressing an epitope recognized by a monoclonal antibody 27E10 are present in acute but are absent in chronic inflammatory disorders. This report shows that the 27E10 antigen is formed by noncovalent association of the two Ca2+-binding proteins MRP8 and MRP14 which belong to the S100 protein family. Identification has been confirmed immunochemically, by matrix-assisted UV-laser desorption/ionization spectrometry and by partial amino acid sequencing. Surface expression of the MRP8/MRP14 complex on a subset of monocytes is reported for the first time and shown to be up-regulated in a Ca2+-dependent manner. The 27E10 surface-positive monocytes isolated by cell separation techniques release high amounts of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1-beta in contrast to their 27E10 surface-negative counterparts thus emphasizing their role in inflammation.